Planning for Success throughout Phases of Housing Stability

Posted by Iain De Jong10sc on November 23, 2011

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Part Nine: Planning for Success throughout Phases of Housing Stability

My pal (and Founding Partner of OrgCode), Dr. John Whitesell, has reinforced in me over the past dozen years the usefulness of the Sigmoid Curve to represent change, growth and development within people and organizations. He has also ingrained in me the ability to chunk the S-Curve into three main phases: Formative; Normative; and, Integrative.

While appreciating that everyone experiences housing support services somewhat differently, John and I meticulously went about trying to typologize various client characteristics in program phases relative to the S-Curve. Upon review of a whack of case files, interviews with staff in some highly successful housing programs, interviews with dozens of clients, mining of various data sets and reflecting on my own experience in creating and leading a rather successful housing program, we arrived at the following broad-stroke phases as experienced by the client, and as supported by the case manager:

Stage

Client Characteristics

What the Case Manager Should Do & Expect

Formative

Period of adjustment in being housed and becoming oriented to the new environment and supports

Characterized by new learning and adaptation

Goals and priorities more likely to shift

More likely to be pre-contemplative or contemplative in many areas of individualized service plan

Changes to social network are common

May feel a sense or urgency or panic to be “normal” or “do the right things”, yet more likely to miss appointments

Often emotionally unpredictable

Expect unpredictability & do not be frustrated

Focus on small wins

Drop by

Ask exploratory probing questions about future

Expect more teaching and modeling

Expect longer visits or more frequent shorter visits

Be clear about what is in scope for their help and what clients need to do on their own

You may also have noticed reference to things like the Crisis Plan and the Exit Plan, as well as Risk Assessment. If you want copies of any of these sorts of documents, drop me a note atidejong@orgcode.com

And there are, of course, other tools and techniques that you can put into place through each phase of the program to help track progress and work on increased success. Some of my favorites (click on any of them if you want more information from the source documents) include:

If we plan for success, have a sense of what to expect along the journey of housing and life stability, support appropriately without coercion or misguided expectations, use tools & strategies to increase the likelihood of success and remain focused on the major outcome of helping people achieve greater independence over time, more success will be had.

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Iain De Jong has considerable experience helping organizations better understand how to support clients in moving from one phase to the other, and thinking about resource allocation and time management of staff in supporting clients in each of the phases. Feel free to drop him a line or ask questions idejong@orgcode.com

About Iain De Jong

Leader. Edutainer. Coach. Consultant. Professor. Researcher. Blogger. Do-gooder. Potty mouth. Positive disruptor. Relentless advocate for social justice. Comedian. Dad. Minimalist. Recovering musician. Canadian citizen. International jetsetter. Living life in jeans and a t-shirt. Trying really hard to end homelessness in developed countries around the world, expand harm reduction practices, make housing happen, and reform the justice system. Driven by change, fuelled by passion. Winner of a shit ton of prestigious awards, none of which matter unless change happens in how we think about vulnerability, marginality, and inclusion.